Why do we say, mainly in American English, that someone’s green if they’re inexperiened or naïve?
It’s actually quite simple really: it’s because they’re fresh and new, like new green plants growing in the spring. Still, there could be many other adjectives we could use instead of green in this case. I think there’s a particular significance to the way we use green here. Perhaps more than other colours, green has a greater significance than just its surface detail.
Why do we associate the colour blue with sadness and depression? You can feel blue, have or sing the blues. The third Monday of January is known as Blue Monday and is claimed to be statistically the saddest day of the year, though the study which first this has been debunked as pseudoscience. What can’t be argued, however, is that it’s also the name of a great New Order song:
Most people suggest we think of blue in this way because it’s calming, and that this effect is psychological, being derived from our association of the colour with the passivity of the sky or the hypnotic rhythms of the sea. And even though depression isn’t always passive or sad, it’s heavily associated with sadness, and we do imagine sadness as being a passive, stagnant state. Continue reading
Quick, answer these questions:
GREEN
2. What do you put in a toaster?
You might have answered green and toast, instead of, of course, red and bread. Though perhaps not, as these tricks usually work better verbally. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 